"We have to make sure we have transparency in public contracts and that we deal with companies that are above board." -- Councilman Ricky Templet

A majority of Jefferson Parish Council members has now publicly committed to ending all parish contracts with Three Fold Consultants, whose co-founder pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to bribing former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. That makes it almost certain Three Fold will get booted out of Jefferson Parish public work for five years when the council meets Dec. 12.

Councilmen Ricky Templet and Mark Spears on Wednesday became the latest officials to announce their support for Parish President John Young's recommendations to end a 2008 contract with Three Fold signed by former firm president Rodney Williams. The Destrehan businessman pleaded guilty to charges that he gave more than $72,000 in bribes to Nagin in exchange for the mayor's help in securing no-bid engineering contracts in New Orleans.

Young also recommended removing Three Fold as a sub-contractor in two other Jefferson Parish contracts and deleting the firm from lists of eligible engineers for so-called routine projects.

Parish Council members Chris Roberts and Cynthia Lee Sheng had announced their support for the recommendations on Tuesday. That means a majority of the seven-member council has now vowed to make Three Fold the first firm sanctioned under a 2010 Jefferson Parish law designed to deter corruption in public contracting.

A Jefferson Parish Council majority has announced its intent to end contracts involving the firm created by Rodney Williams, above, who on Wednesday pleaded guilty to bribing former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Chris Granger, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune

Three Fold officials have not answered several messages seeking comment about the potential sanctions in Jefferson.

The 2010 parish law bans parish work with contractors who plead guilty or are convicted of corruption in state or federal court -- regardless of where the crime took place. Under the law, Three Fold would lose its current contracts and be banned from any parish work for five years.

Templet said that would send a message that there's not room for corrupt contractors in Jefferson Parish.

"We have to make sure we have transparency in public contracts and that we deal with companies that are above board," Templet said.

Spears said in a statement that "as I have done on all other changes to contracts recommended by the administration," he supported Young's suggestion to end Three Fold contracts.

New Orleans has a similar law barring contracting with people or entities that have corruption convictions, although the Landrieu administration hasn't announced any sanction regarding Three Fold's contracts. Spokesman Ryan Berni said last month the city law seemed to forbid the execution of contracts, but it wasn't clear what would happen if a contractor is convicted of a corruption-related crime after having signed a contract with the city.

Three Fold's contracts in Jefferson Parish include a 2008 deal to study road improvements near Waggaman, which was originally awarded with a $30,000 cap and has ballooned to a $383,000 deal. The firm is also a sub-contractor in contracts to make improvements in the East Jefferson wastewater treatment plant and to improve drainage in the Nine Mile area.